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ABSTRACT Jacob and the Divine Trickster: a Theology of Deception

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ABSTRACT Jacob and the Divine Trickster: a Theology of Deception ABSTRACT Jacob and the Divine Trickster: A Theology of Deception and YHWH’s Fidelity to the Ancestral Promise in the Jacob Cycle John E. Anderson, Ph.D. Mentor: W. H. Bellinger, Jr., Ph.D. The book of Genesis portrays the character Jacob as a brazen trickster who deceives members of his own family: his father Isaac, brother Esau, and uncle Laban. At the same time, Genesis depicts Jacob as YHWH’s chosen from whom the entire people Israel derive. These two notices produce a latent tension in the text: Jacob is concurrently an unabashed trickster and YHWH’s preference. How is one to reconcile this tension? This dissertation investigates the phenomenon of divine deception in the Jacob cycle (Gen 25-35). The primary thesis is that YHWH both uses and engages in deception for the perpetuation of the ancestral promise (Gen 12:1-3), giving rise to what I have dubbed a theology of deception. Through a literary hermeneutic, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between both how the text means and what the text means, with theological aims, this study examines the various manifestations of YHWH as Trickster in the Jacob cycle. Attention is given to how the multiple deceptions evoke, advance, and at times fulfill the ancestral promise. In Gen 25-28 YHWH engages in deception to insure Jacob receives the ancestral promise. Here Jacob is seen cutting his deceptive teeth by extorting the right of the firstborn from Esau and the paternal blessing from Isaac. YHWH, however, also plays the role of Trickster through an utterly ambiguous oracle to Rebekah in Gen 25:23, which drives the human deceptions. At Bethel (Gen 28:10-22) Jacob receives the ancestral promise from YHWH, in effect corroborating the earlier deceptions. In Gen 29-31 YHWH uses the many deceptions perpetrated between Jacob and Laban to advance the ancestral promise in the areas of progeny, blessing to the nations, and land. Lastly, in Gen 32-35 YHWH participates in Jacob’s final deception of Esau (Gen 33:1-17) through two encounters Jacob has, first with the “messengers of God” and second with God. Jacob’s tricking of Esau during their reconciliation results in Jacob’s return to the promised land. Attention is given to the theological implications of this divine portrait, along with prospects for further study. Jacob and the Divine Trickster: A Theology of Deception and YHWH’s Fidelity to the Ancestral Promise in the Jacob Cycle by John E. Anderson, B.A., M.T.S. A Dissertation Approved by the Department of Religion ___________________________________ W. H. Bellinger, Jr., Ph.D., Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by the Dissertation Committee ___________________________________ W. H. Bellinger, Jr., Ph.D. Chairperson ___________________________________ James D. Nogalski, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Luke Ferretter, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School August 2010 ___________________________________ J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School. Copyright © 2010 by John E. Anderson All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vi DEDICATION ix Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Divine Deception in Genesis: A Scholarly Gap 4 Precursors to Divine Deception: The Ancient 25 Near East and Anthropological Evidence Toward a Theology of Deception 35 Assumptions and Methodology 36 The Ancestral Promise in Genesis 42 Definitions 46 A Brief Overview of the Study 48 2. A Trickster Oracle: Reading Jacob and Esau 50 Between Beten and Bethel (Gen 25-28) Introductory Remarks 50 A Trickster’s Oracle (Gen 25:19-34) 54 “Fulfilling” the Trickster Oracle (Gen 27:1-45) 86 Divine Corroboration at Bethel: Gen 28 and Deception 95 Conclusion: A Trickster Oracle and YHWH’s 102 Preference for a Trickster iii 3. Divine Deception and Incipient Fulfillment 104 of the Ancestral Promise (Gen 29-31) Introductory Remarks 104 The Trickster Tricked and YHWH’s Role (Gen 29:1-30) 107 Children, the Ancestral Promise, and Deception 126 (Gen 29:31-30:24) Trickster as Blessing (Gen 30:27-30) 131 The Great Escape and YHWH’s Deception of 135 Laban (Gen 30:25-31:54) Conclusion: Deception and Incipient Fulfillment 162 of the Ancestral Promise 4. Replaying the Fool: Esau vs. YHWH and Jacob (Gen 32-35) 165 Introductory Remarks 165 Encounters: Preparations for Reconciliation (Gen 32:1-33) 169 Reconciliation and Deception (Gen 33) 210 Deception and the Ancestral Promise, Reprise (Gen 34-35) 223 Conclusion: Tricky Encounters 226 5. Concluding Remarks and Prospects for Further Study 228 Introductory Remarks 228 A Theology of Deception in the Jacob Cycle 228 Prospects for Further Study 236 Concluding Thoughts 240 Bibliography 242 iv LIST OF TABLES 1. Jacob’s Vow and the Ancestral Promise 100 2. God in the Names of Jacob’s Children 127 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is nearly impossible to acknowledge with thanks all those who have contributed to this journey. My great-grandmother, Ann Anderson, first introduced me to the Bible. I still vividly recall her taking me on her lap and reading, from Genesis no less. She was the first theologian to incline my mind and heart to the importance, beauty, and power of the Bible. I miss her dearly. Murray Haar continued this journey for me by opening up the academic world of biblical studies and showing me that it is not the pursuit of answers but rather the asking of thoughtful and probing questions that breathes life into the text. It is because of him that I entered this field. He has remained a dear friend and conversation partner throughout my graduate career, and for this I am grateful. I wish also to thank Richard Swanson, who taught me always to use imagination and creativity in interpreting biblical texts. My early work with him has kept me vigilant in thinking about how these stories create their own narrative worlds. He has also helped me to remain mindful of the characters’ bodies as a vital matter of interpretation. The seeds for this project were first planted in the Spring 2006 during a seminar on Genesis with Anathea Portier-Young at Duke University. My proposal to investigate the connection between deception and blessing in the Jacob cycle was met with great interest. The present study is markedly different from my original proposal nearly four years ago, and I thank Dr. Portier-Young for her engaging questions during that initial foray, which have been of tremendous assistance in helping me to refine both my method and my argument. vi W. H. Bellinger, Jr. has instilled in me a passion for the task of Old Testament theology. He has been a constant source of encouragement and confidence, never allowing me to settle for easy conclusions and always pressing me further. This work is significantly better because of his service as mentor. He has always been an important advocate of my work. I have also had the privilege of working closely with him over the past four years and observing him in the classroom; this interaction has made me not only a better scholar but also a better teacher. I am greatly indebted to him for the countless hours he has devoted to helping shape not only this project but me as a scholar. James D. Nogalski has provided an environment of unfailing support. His keen eyes have prevented me from making many a mistake or claiming more than the evidence allows. He has generously given freely of his time—honoring my ‘interruptions’—on more than one occasion, and his remarks have insured that the ambiguities remain in the Jacob cycle though not in my own writing. My sincerest thanks goes to Walter Brueggemann, who has read and commented on the manuscript and offered strong words of encouragement and appreciation along the way. His vision of Old Testament theology, coupled with an ardent desire to underscore the unsettling nature of ancient Israel’s God, informs this study in innumerable ways. His own work has been generative for my own, and he has paved much of the way for me to be able to offer this contribution. It is humbling to walk in his footsteps, but to paraphrase something he once wrote to me, I am glad we are at the same task. I would also like to extend a special thank you to my colleagues in the Baylor University religion department, who have been supportive of my studies in this area and have made this experience a happy one; to the Baylor University Graduate School, who vii generously provided funding for travel to various regional and national SBL meetings at which I was able to present parts of this larger work; and to the editors of Perspectives in Religious Studies, who have graciously given permission to use previously published material in this dissertation. My article appeared in the Spring 2009 issue on pages 3-23 and is entitled “Jacob, Laban, and a Divine Trickster? The Covenantal Framework of God’s Deception in the Theology of the Jacob Cycle.” Parts of this article, with some modification and expansion, appear in chapter three and a small part of chapter four. Last, but by no means least, the largest praise goes to my wife, Taryn, and son, Evan. Both have sacrificed in countless ways so that I may bring this work to completion. Words are inadequate to express the level of appreciation, gratitude, and love I have for them. They have kept me sane and grounded throughout this process. Every day I always knew I would walk in the door and be greeted by a big hug and the exuberant shout of “daddy!” which transformed even the least productive of days into happy and worthwhile ones.
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